Microsoft

Windows 11 will soon be available for testing in a less-risky manner. Meanwhile, Microsoft has unveiled some more changes, including an end - of sorts - to the "Blue Screen of Death". Microsoft has confirmed the system will be available to people in ... the Windows Insider Program in its Beta testing channel as of July 29. It is officially the first time something resembling the finished Windows 11 is available in a complete and fully usable manner. Up until then, Windows 11 has only available in the Dev channel, meaning some features and actions may be unavailable. Microsoft also stresses that ... (view more)

A surprise requirement for Windows 11 has left many users fearing their computer may not be compatible with the new system. The need for a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) has led to a price spike for the component, though there's no real need to panic ... or pay over the odds right now. The requirement came to light when Microsoft published a downloadable PC Health Check tool that told users whether their PC met all the hardware requirements for running Windows 11, which is due for release later this year. That led to a lot of confusion with users seeing the answer was "No," but the tool not saying ... (view more)

What looks very much to be "Windows 11" has leaked online. Most of the changes appear to be cosmetic, though it should boost performance on some PCs. While nothing is yet confirmed, we've effectively moved from "Windows 11 is coming" being an ... interesting rumor to something that seems likely, unless and until Microsoft denies it. Not only has what appears to be a copy of the new system (displaying the Windows 11 name on screen) leaked online, but Microsoft has issued a legal takedown notice to Google demanding it stop including the leak download page in its search results. The notice very much ... (view more)

Microsoft has dropped another strong hint that Windows 10 will be getting a sequel. It's now added an end date for the system. Rumors started getting louder last week that Windows 11 is on the cards. Those came partly from a Microsoft graphic that ... many took to be a not-so-hidden reference to 11 and partly from the wording some Microsoft executives used when promoting an upcoming media event. Now Microsoft has updated its support timetable documents to list Windows 10 Home and Pro as having a "retirement date" of 14 October 2025. That's the first time Microsoft has listed a date for Windows 10 ... (view more)

The rumor-mill is filled with claims Windows 11 is imminent. It doesn't seem to be based on much concrete and would certainly be a major change of attitude from Microsoft. Most of the speculation seems to trace back to a Microsoft post on Twitter ... which includes an animation of a window in the shape of the Windows logo, casting a shadow into the room. (Source: bgr.com ) The excitement comes from the fact that although the window has the horizontal line in the middle (making a cross), the shadow intentionally does not. That means the shadow somewhat resembles an 11 (or 111 depending on your ... (view more)

Microsoft is again bugging users to switch their default search engine to Bing. There's a way to get rid of the messages, but strangely it's hidden away in the Edge browser. The pop-up message seen by some users says that "Microsoft recommends ... different browser settings. Want to change them?" and then gives the not-entirely-comprehensive choice of "Yes, change settings" and "Maybe later". It's a sneaky message in a couple of ways. The first is that while it promises "Search that gives back time and money" and "Fast and secure search results with Bing", the message doesn't actually explain ... (view more)

Microsoft is downplaying the floppy disk icon in Windows 10. It's part of an overhaul that will remove some design elements that have been in place since Windows 95. The changes will appear in the second big update to Windows 10 this year, ... officially called 21H2, codenamed Sun Valley. It sounds as if the update is largely going to be about appearance rather than functionality, which is either a welcome sign of leaving well alone or an indication of a lack of ambition and a fear of screwing things up, depending on your level of cynicism. As is normally the case with design refreshes, the aim ... (view more)

A bug with Windows Defender has been filling computers with thousands of largely useless files. The bug is fixed with the latest update and this is definitely an application worth keeping updated. Windows Defender (officially known as Microsoft ... Defender Antivirus) is the built-in security tool in Windows 10. The consensus view is that it's not as good as the best third-party tools, but does a decent job and is certainly a useful line of defense for the average user. Unfortunately a recent update, which took Windows Defender to version 1.1.18100.5, introduced an annoying bug. Users noticed a ... (view more)

Windows 10X, a variant designed originally for dual-screen machines, may never appear according to new reports. The system had also been tipped as an alternative to Google's Chrome OS. Microsoft officially announced it was working on Windows 10X in ... October 2019. At that time, the idea was to produce a separate Windows variant that was designed for dual-screen devices. Such devices, sometimes called clamshells, serve a variety of purposes. Some are designed to fold back completely so that users can switch between using it as a laptop and using it more like a tablet. Microsoft appeared to ... (view more)

Microsoft has released an optional Windows 10 update that could solve a recent problem with high CPU usage. Users who haven't had this problem can probably give the update a miss. The update, with the reference KB5001391 is optional as it's a "C ... release". That means it's made up of fixes and features that will roll out in the main update cycle later on but are available now as a preview. The main point of interest in KB5001391 is a fix for a memory problem. Microsoft hasn't made things entirely clear but it appears it's targeted at recent reports of users suddenly seeing their CPU usage ... (view more)